Demons after Dark
by Lilia Marie
Summary: He loved her...and she loved him. He taught her everything and mentored her from the moment he saw her...and yet, when he asked her to be his mate she ran from him, from her vampire life. Now, circumstances have changed, and they meet amidst a war once again. Can love survive even in the trenches of the bloodiest war in the history of their kind? VanchaXOC Rated M for later on.
1. Prologue

**Demons after Dark**

**Prologue**

'_Ava?'_

_Ava turned to look at the tall, burly, green haired and incredibly wild-looking Vancha March. Normally poised with no regrets or any betrayal of weak emotions, Vancha now stood there in front of her with a look in his eyes that frightened her to see it. It was a look of forced hope, as though something he had always wanted to happen never did, and now he was hoping it would. His eyes looked somewhat lost in a deep river of thought, and it was something that Ava never expected to see in those big eyes. His thin mouth was even thinner, as though behind those lips his teeth were clenched, as well as his fists under his huge crossed arms. He was tense, so tense the aura around them tensed with him._

_Ava held her breath before she said, 'Yes?'_

_His expression shifted from the mix of forced emotions to a flicker of real hope, one that didn't have to be forced, 'I have something to ask you. Don't hate me for it, please, but I cannot hold it inside me any longer.'_

_She bit her lip, her gut clenching so tight, she felt like doubling over and throwing her intestines up. Either that or she felt like melting into a puddle and washing away into the river._

_Instead, though, she managed to ask'What's that sire?'_

'_Will you be my mate?'_

_He didn't even hesitate, didn't even pause to even consider a second thought. It came tumbling out of him so fast; Ava wondered if she had heard it right. _He_ was asking _her_ to be his _mate_? He, a big, huge and much respected Vampire; a Prince? Vancha March was one of the most traditional, if not _the_ most besides Seba Nile and Paris Skyle, and every vampire in the whole world worshipped the ground he walked on. _

_She didn't know what to think or say. To her it was as if her entire life just started. She had fallen in love with this man the moment he grudgingly decided to take her under his wing and train her. Every criticism, every insult and every push was more incentive for her to love him. Every time he knocked her to the ground and shouted at her to get up and every time he beat her in hand-to-hand combat was just a step towards her undying feelings for him. The entire time, she knew he would never look at her that way because he was too busy teaching her. He was the master and she was the assistant. She wanted to run into his arms and cry the happiest tears a girl could shed, tell him that she wanted to be his mate forever and ever and kiss him all over his face while he grumbled for her to get off…._

_But she didn't. She just stood there, her mouth shut, her entire body shaking like a leaf. He taught her lessons of strength, to never reveal to the adversary what she was thinking. But he was not her enemy, he was her master. He was her Prince. He was her everything. All this time, she thought she was the only one that felt that. She dreamt of one day being his mate and to make him as happy as Avery made Prince Mika Ver Leth happy. _

'_Well?' He frowned, 'Are you going to answer?'_

_She didn't like the pressure that he was putting her, but she held her tongue of any smart remarks and said, 'I…I…'_

'_You what?'_

_She didn't know why she did what she did. She was so frightened and scared for reasons unknown. The thought of refusing him overwhelmed to her and infiltrated her every thought process that she couldn't think about accepting. She didn't remember whispering 'No' or the expression on his face when she did. All she remembered was she never meant to run. She wasn't a coward and she almost never ran from her problems. But then was different. Then was something she wasn't used to dealing with. She remembered him calling her name, and hearing his footsteps running after her down the halls, out the doors, past the guards and into the trees. She must have been running fast, for she out ran him. He gave her a good chase for at least an hour, but then he faltered off when she just disappeared into the night, never to be seen again for a very long time. _

_She had refused the man she would love forever. She had refused him because she was scared. She had refused him because she had been weak. She could never face him again. Never again._

_She had to promise herself to never see him again. It tore at her heart, but she had to ensure that her past mistakes didn't come back to haunt her. Seeing him would. little did she know that as she left the shelter of her creator, Evanna's, home, she would step right into the cesspool of not only facing her old master again, but a war that would threaten to tear them apart again. _


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Evanna was not only hideous and an eye sore, but she was also extremely annoying. Ava and Anna both wanted to slaughter her every time the damn woman opened her mouth. Evanna wasn't their mother so much as their 'creator'. She had worked with different forms of magic and the cultivation of new life to form four young baby girls. Vampires. Nothing special about them except that. Avery was the first, then Aria—Evanna used the body of Prince Arrow's dead wife to create her—then Ava and then Anna was the last. Anna had not yet been to Vampire Mountain, and Ava had just run away from there, ending up back where her life started: Evanna's cave.

She decided not to tell anyone about that day twenty years ago, for it wasn't something she was proud of. Evanna knew, of course, but she respected Ava's silence, and only spoke to her about it once, very briefly, when Ava returned that day.

"Ava! Will you hurry up and get down here?" Evanna snapped her shrill voice a little more prissier than usual, "We have guests coming!"

Ava wanted to throw a rather foul curse in Evanna's direction, but she held her breath, refusing to submit to her temptations. She stood from where she had been sitting—on the edge of her bed, mulling over her thoughts—and brushed the dust off of her pants. The rooms smelled of old musk and the air within was thick, as though it had not been filtered in for fresher air for years. Ava ran her fingers through her hair and walked out of her bedroom door, taking the steps down two at a time.

When she got down to the common meeting area in Evanna's cave, she noticed Anna dusting off the furniture and arranging all the decorations. Evanna was cooking, and she was taking her own time as well. Normally she moved at lightning speed to get things like cooking done, but not now.

"Ava, can you come here please?" Evanna called her, obviously sensing her second to youngest daughter in the vicinity, "I need to talk to you."

_Shit…_As Ava made her journey into the kitchen, she thought about everything bad she had ever done in her life that Evanna would want to use against her. Besides…_then_…she really couldn't think of anything else. What else would she want to talk to her about? Silently, Ava hoped it was something else, and if the Gods of the Vampires were on her side, it would be. But they were almost never on her side. Where were they when the Pit of Snakes nearly killed her? Where were they when she needed strength?

Finally she arrived in the kitchen, where the smells of Evanna's stew infiltrated the air around them. Ava never really asked what kind of meat her mother put in her stew, and Evanna never told them. Anna asked once, but Evanna shot a glare at her in response.

"What it is?" Ava asked, raising her voice over the chorus of gurgling around her.

Evanna turned to her, her hideous face gleaming with sweat from the steam, her mismatched eyes slightly troubled as she spoke; "I know this isn't a subject you want to speak of, but we must."

Ava cursed the Gods yet again, "What about it?" She really wanted to forget, but all these occurrences were making it really hard to do that. Evanna knew that, so why was she bringing it up again?

"Come." Evanna gestured towards the back exit of the cave, "Its best we speak where your sister will not hear."

Ava didn't like the sound of that at all, but she swallowed any protests and followed her short, stumpy mother out the back door. The moment they stepped out into the dimming sunlight melting into night, the frogs that her mother had guarding the back of the cave, as well as the front, hopped aside to let them through into the herb gardens she had growing. Fertility herbs, mostly, all injected into Ava and her other three sisters the day they were "born". The cool breeze blew through the trees, rustling the leaves and causing some to fall. The forest around them was quiet, save a few chirps and the cracking of twigs every now and then. The trees extended as far as the eye could see, and Ava could almost imagine Vancha pushing through them, heading in her direction. The moment she did, she shook her head, dismissing it.

"I mean to discuss what has transpired since you left the mountain." Evanna chirped brightly, pulling Ava out of her daze, "For much has, daughter."

"Why not tell Anna as well?" Ava asked, frowning and taking a seat in the soft grass, lifting her knees and wrapping her arms around them.

"She's still very young." The Lady of the Wilds replied, taking a seat as well and crossing her legs Indian style, "She has much more to learn from me before I send her off to Vampire Mountain. Her destiny lies great, even though she will not mate a Prince."

"But still someone of high standing, I would assume." Ava knew not to press her mother for more information. Her other two sisters had both made mating commitments with Princes; Avery with Mika Ver Leth and Aria with Arrow. It was odd to most vampires that Arrow would mate Aria, but she was a carbon copy of his wife, a gift from the Lady of the Wilds that his desires refused to let him turn away. And she held the memories that his late wife had had, so it was as if it was her. But it was not. And his lust for vampaneze blood was also reflected in her desires. Mika and Avery became mates after his trials with Arra Sails had turned out to be against him. Avery came as a healing to him, and he soon fell in deep love with her, pledging his life to her…in his own way.

"Larten Crepsley returned to Vampire Mountain." Evanna was saying, "Along with a boy; Darren Shan."

"I heard." Ava nodded, "Vanez sent me a telepathic message about six years ago."

"That would be correct."

"And I am to assume he also came with a little person?" Ava inquired, "One that talks? Avery told me."

"She was correct." Evanna nodded, "It came with grim tidings but tidings nonetheless. But I wish to give you a shorthand version of what happened, Ava, for it is soon time for you to make the next step in your journey."

"I cannot associate with vampires anymore." Ava protested despite herself, "They all think me a coward. Gods only know what Vancha told them." His name left a bitter taste in her mouth but she tried her best to swallow it for the sake of her own sanity.

"There is nothing you should fear." Evanna replied simply, toying with some loose grass, "He has said nothing, simply that you have returned to me. You hurt him greatly, Ava, do you really think that is something he wants to show to everyone else? He has a role as a Prince to play and a reputation as a hard-ass to keep."

Ava bit her lip and bowed her head, her mother's blunt words cutting through her like a knife, "I cannot deny destiny."

"No, you cannot." Evanna raised a thick eyebrow, "The boy went through his trials and failed. He ran away on Kurda Smahlt's advice. When he did this, he discovered that Kurda was a traitor, a traitor to the race. He was smuggling vampaneze into the mountain in order to overthrow the Hall of Princes and start his own super race in order to thwart my father's prophecy of a Lord of Shadows and the fall of the vampires."

Ava gave her mother a look as though she thought she was kidding.

"Let me finish before you befuddle me with your statements of shock." Evanna said, holding up a hand, "Kurda killed Gavner Purl, for he was with Darren when he found out. Darren witnessed this and jumped into the river and, somehow, survived. He found shelter with the wolves and began to recover for the next coming months. All the while, Kurda remained with the Princes, getting ready for his own coronation as one of them. Darren's main objective was to warn the vampires before he did. He did. He stopped the investure just before Kurda became a Prince and stated his accusations. The Princes believed him after one of the vampires on Kurda's side let his stupidity win over common sense.

"To make a long story short, there was an altercation with the vampires and vampaneze, and that is the reason I am telling you this." Evanna's face grew grim as her mouth formed the next words in dramatic slow motion, "The War of Scars has begun."

Ava shook her head, her eyes wide and her hands shaking, "Mother, do you realize what you are telling me? Gavner dead? Kurda a traitor? A fight with the vampaneze on vampire soil? All this is—"

"What was predicted to occur." Evanna replied curtly, "And you have no other story to believe, Ava. If you had not run, you would have witnessed it firsthand."

"Could I have stopped it?" Ava asked slowly, hardly feeling the words leave her mouth, "If I had not…run?"

"There is no telling what could have happened otherwise." Evanna sighed, "That is the trick of time. And it will also be useful for you to know that Arra Sails has also passed onto Paradise. She was murdered by a vampaneze in the fight. After it all, Darren Shan was crowned a Prince."

"Oh Gods!" Ava cried, covering her mouth with her hands, tears springing into her eyes, "Gavner and Arra? And Kurda was executed I am sure."

Evanna nodded.

"Three good, good and noble vampires gone in the span of months." Ava shook her head, "Why didn't Avery or Aria tell me of this before? And a new Prince? One so young?"

"They were forbidden to by their mates." Evanna said, "Mika and Arrow knew they would try to say something to you, and they stopped it, for the safety of the clan."

"That is understandable." Ava nodded slowly, tears leaking from her eyes as she thought of Kurda, the man that had been so kind to her to Gavner as his light humor to Arra, who had embraced her as a sister and taught her the ropes of fighting one the bars. All gone. Kurda a traitor and Arra and Gavner slaughtered because of it.

"There is more." Evanna said grimly, "My father visited Vampire Mountain six years after the fight, about a week ago, with news as grim as the night." She cleared her throat, "He said there will be three hunters to find and kill the overlord of the vampaneze, the man that Kurda had told the Princes of during his trial before his execution. Two of those hunters are Larten and Darren. The third…"

The look Evanna gave her told Ava the whole rest of the story, and Ava wanted nothing more than to slam the damn book shut, bolt it and burn it. She knew who the third hunter was…and all these years of avoiding Vancha March and sulking in the bottomless pits of her own cowardice were finally coming back to haunt her.

"Kurda is gone." Evanna said, her eyes stern, "The fate of the race rests in the hands of Darren Shan, Larten Crepsely and Vancha March. The little person, Harkat Mulds, is accompanying them. And when they come here tonight, you will go with them when they leave."

"WHAT?"

"Ava, I don't want to hear it."

"I can't go with them anywhere, mother!" Ava protested, her misery washing down on her like the waterfall in the Hall of Petra Vin Grahl, "Don't you understand? I can't be near Vancha."

"The situation is more precarious then your little love life, Ava." Evanna snapped, her eyes flaring dangerously, "You cannot cause the day of judgment for the vampires to arrive ahead of schedule because of your sorry sob story with one of the hunters. You must swallow your fears and up the courage, for you and them only have four chances to kill the Vampaneze Lord, as my father stated. You are not a hunter, Ava, but you play a big part in the future of the race, as do your sisters. You must amend your relations with March in order to continue on."

"Gods damn me to the pits of servitude." Ava stood to her feet, "But I understand my duty, as was taught to me when I went to Vampire Mountain. I still fear an altercation with my former mentor, but I know I cannot let that get in the way. You know my destiny, mother, as does Destiny himself."

"You are, by far, the most stubborn of all the sisters." Evanna grunted, standing as well, "But I know you understand your duty when the times calls for it."

"Yes…." Ava bowed her head, her insides screaming for her to run again, to run away from her troubles until they faded into the mists and she was left to start alone. But she ignored it. It would be a dammed thing to do to run and then have her own race fall to rubble and ash. The news was still sinking in, and she knew she would have plenty of time to merit a proper reaction to it all later. The life they lived moved fast and dangerous, and they had naught anytime to mull over reacting to news or grim tidings.

"I understand what you are feeling." Evanna said, more gently this time, "Truly, I do, my daughter. Your feelings for him are not conflicted rather than your feelings in regards to your reaction to his proposal. You wanted to accept. But you focused on the negatives of it all. You love him. He doesn't know it. It is hard, I know, for that to happen. He is a hard man, weathered by many years of hardships. He doesn't take refusal lightly. It will be hard at first, but you have to focus on the task as hand, and that is assisting them as much as you can, do you understand?"

Ava bit her lip and nodded, "Yes, mother."

"Good," Evanna smiled her crooked toothed smile, "Now that you know what is to come, and you accept it, help me finish dinner."

But, as they continued on with their preparations, Ava couldn't help but think about her seeing Vancha again. She couldn't look at him; she knew she didn't have that courage yet. It would be refreshing to see Larten again, as well as meeting the little person and the new boy Prince, but she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on them with Vancha in the room. It had been twenty years since that night she ran from him, and it felt like it happened minutes ago. For once she wished she was not Ava, but rather Anna. The youngest. The one who had a fresh start, with nothing to fear and nothing to regret. She wished she was Anna because Anna's life was starting while Ava's was near coming to a close. She wished she was anyone but herself. She wished she was one of those leaves falling, dead and withered to nothingness. It was free and it was falling…

Just falling…


	3. Chapter 2

_**~Dog on! Forgot to do this sooner! Disclaimer states that I do not own ANY of the Cirque du Freak characters, settings, themes and pretty much anything from the book. The only things I own are those characters I created. All rights go to Darren Shan and his swagged out series! :D. Now, onto the story! ~**_

**Chapter Two**

Ava busied herself with random chores here and there to keep herself occupied; the help the minutes pass. But it didn't help. Every second felt like ten years and every minute felt like a million. She wanted to scream and throw shit around the room until everything exploded. She wanted to claw out her mother's eyes and then claw out her own…only that really would fix the fact that Vancha was coming. He was so close Ava could almost see him, smell him and touch him. God, what she wouldn't have given to touch him again. Be in those big arms and feel safe, like nothing or no one could ever hurt her.

But, she had to remember that she could take care of herself. He had trained her to where she could. Then he had asked her to be his mate. Then she had fled.

"I hate this." Ava whispered to her mother, "I hate every second of it."

Evanna sighed, "Remember what your cause here is."

"I understand what it is." Ava replied tartly as she started to pace, "But it doesn't mean that I don't have to feel uncomfortable about him coming. I haven't seen him in twenty years!"

"Seen who?" Anna was coming down the stairs, her black hair tied up in a pony tail. She was wearing a white tank top and a pair of torn denim jeans. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had a rather annoyed facade going on her mug.

"Anna banana," Evanna sighed and Ava held back a laugh at the really cliché nickname, "What did I say? Stay in your room!"

"I never get to meet the get to meet anyone!" Anna complained, crossing her arms over her chest, her mere fifty year old face screwing up into annoyance, "Can't I? For once?"

"Absolutely not!" Evanna glared at her, "Back to your room, young lady, and don't let me catch you leaving it again because if I do, I will skin you alive and feed you to the frogs."

Anna crossed her arms over her chest, "You never let me do _anything_!" She shot at Evanna before turning around and storming up the stairs and slamming her room door shut, causing most of the cave to rattle.

Evanna bowed her head and shook it, "That child will be the end of me."

"Were Avery, Aria and I so different at that age?" Ava asked, taking a seat on the couch and crossing her legs.

"You and Aria were the worst." Evanna nodded gravely shaking her head, "You were as hard headed as ever, always getting yourself into the worst of troubles and determined to have the most absurd adventures, and Aria was so materialistic, I near had her shipped off to the human world to live with them. The diva that girl turned out to be…" the witch shook her head, "Avery was my best thus far. Obedient, quiet and smart. A free spirit and thinker, yes, but still the daughter every mother could ask for."

"Sire Ver Leth seems to think so also." Ava smiled sadly, "They've been mated for near a century." Saying that hung a weight in Ava's heart because she knew that could have been her also. Mated to a Prince, happy and successful. Avery was the luckiest out of the sisters. Aria had a hard time with Arrow and his constant memories of his late wife, no matter how much Aria looked like and remembered things about her, Arrow still singled her out as a separate woman. Anna was still young; she had no idea of the great vampires that resided within the mountain. Avery and Mika were happy and unbiased….and Ava wanted to be that with Vancha.

But she ran, didn't she.

"Hmmm." Evanna nodded at her daughter's observation, "How she stays with that hollow, grumpy asshole I don't know. Maybe she fears leaving him…"

"Maybe she loves him." Ava said in her sister's defense, "It's not a crime to love a Prince."

"A flower among stomping feet." Evanna replied simply, "Avery and Aria have blossomed, you and Anna have yet to."

"I have wilted." Ava closed her eyes and ran a hand through her straight black hair, feeling the scar on the back of her neck when her hand hit there. She dropped her hand, remembering how it got there. She and Vancha were training for her final trial, and one of his shurikens sliced the back of her neck open when she had ducked one of his blows. There was a similar scar on her stomach and two more smaller ones on either one of her arms.

"Into another flower bud." Evanna smiled and winked, placing her hands on her hips, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go greet our eagerly anticipating guests. And you're coming with me."

Ava opened her mouth to protest, but Evanna cut her off before she could say anything:

"No. You have to face your fears one day or the other. What better time like the present? You're coming with me, _now_."

XXXX

Ava wanted to run. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She could hear Vancha's voice explaining the concept of Evanna's frogs to whoever was listening.

"…filled with poison. If this frog wrapped its tongue around your arm or the calf of your leg, the sacs would pop and the poison would seep through your flesh."

She heard the aghast reactions from those who were listening to him.

"Death in thirty seconds."

Ava never really gave much thought to how much damage those damn amphibians caused to those who tried them, for they rarely, if ever, paid much attention to her or Anna. Evanna had some sort of disturbing obsession with her frogs, something that Ava disregarded as insanity on a daily basis. But, if you thought about it, there really was no other hobby being the Lady of the Wilds other then breeding slimy, dirty, croaking and annoying frogs. That and predicting the doom of others but not saying a word about it.

"It's refreshing to know that that fool remembers about them." Evanna sniffed, turning to Ava, "What do you see in him?"

Ava was too choked up in the emotions of her own mystery to respond to that. But, if she had, it wouldn't have been anything particularly pleasing to the ear.

"Aren't we going in?" Ava heard a new voice ask. It was like a young boy talking, but also like a young boy who had been through the wringer of all wringers and survived with a few scars and scratches.

"So eager are the young." Evanna and Ava reached the entrance to the cave, "Impatience seems to be a chronic disease amongst your kind. Can a host not at least be given the courtesy of being able to arrive at her entrance in comfort?"

Ava shrugged, her hands shaking like crazy, "I-I gu-ess?"

Evanna frowned at her, "Are you alright?"

Ava shrugged again, "S-sure."

"Hmmm." Evanna bowed her head and shook it, "Calm yourself, my dear. He won't kill you. He might be cold or even shocked but allow him too. After all, you _did_ reject him. Princes don't predominantly take 'no' for an answer. After all, this entire time…" Evanna gave her frightened daughter an odd look, "He thought you were _dead_."

"…she gave him huge warts all over." Vancha was saying now, "He looked like…like…well, it's hard to say, because I've never seen anything quite like it—and I've seen most everything in my time!"

_I know_, Ava thought sadly, _you have, haven't you, Vancha? Everything like the woman you wanted to mate with run from you like a coward? Everything like facing rejection from the student you gave your life to and trained from day one? You've been through all physicalities the world can throw at you, but I only added to the worst it can offer…and that is a broken heart._

"Ah," Evanna smiled, stalling to open the door, "I remember that. A fool too. He deserved every growth."

"…she has a quick temper," The familiar and very welcome voice of Larten Crepsley was saying, "and it is best not to rile her, but would never kill one with vampire blood, unless provoked."

Ava had to smile at that, "You know he's speaking the truth." Her mother had the worst temper Ava had ever seen. She thought going to Vampire Mountain and seeing those brawny idiots throwing random punches would allow her to discover a being with an even worse temper but she had not. Not even close. She thought Arra…maybe…but that didn't even measure up to what her mother would do if she was provoked. Evanna was extremely unpredictable with virtuously nothing to lose. She would strike anyone for any reason under the sun.

"Hmph, they know me too well…" Evanna sighed, looking at her daughter, "ready?"

"No."

"Good. I think we've held them up long enough." Evanna grinned, winked, scowled at Ava's expression, and pushed the door open with her mind.

Ava held her breath for the moment she would lock eyes with her old master.

The door took its own time to open, the deep, rumbling sound of rock against hinge ominous and perfect for the coming mood. Like the calm before the storm, the door opened slow and began to reveal the forms of the creatures on the other side. Ava wanted to breathe, but she was afraid she would scream if she did. It was all too much. Just seeing the red of Crepsley's cloak was enough to inform her on just how real this all was. This was not a game and it was not her place to treat it as such. Had she repressed her horror when her mother told her of this prior? It sure felt like it. Right now, she felt her eyes getting watery, but she refused to let the tears flow. The last thing she wanted was for her old master to see her cry. Tears were not a sign of weakness, but it was still not something she wanted to shed.

She didn't see Vancha when the door opened all the way. Her eyes immediately fell on the little person and the young boy Prince, Darren Shan. He was very young, as young as Evanna had made him out to be. She saw, though, the signs of trials and tribulations on his skin, such as the triangular scar above his right eyebrow. He was dressed in a crummy black shirt and brown cargo pants that were stained with dirt and the knees and blood all over. He looked like he was suffering the after effects of the beginning stages of the purge, and she felt incredibly sorry for him. The little person looked up at her with a semi interested expression, its big green eyes unblinking.

"Ava? Is that you?" Larten grinned, holding out his hand, "Great to see you again. Your sisters send their regards."

"Oh." She was surprised she could even talk right now and she knew her voice must have been nothing over a squeak, "Cool." She still didn't look at Vancha.

"Vampires!" Evanna scoffed in an irritable voice even though she knew it was going to be them, "Always ugly bloody vampires! Why don't handsome humans ever come a-calling?"

"They're probably afraid you'll eat them." A very, very, very familiar voice said. Ava let her breath out and made absolutely sure to not make eye contact. She could feel his eyes on her as he stooped down to give Evanna a hug. She gulped and turned to Darren, smiling softly at him.

"You come here often?"

He laughed, "They made me." He gestured to Mr. Crepsley and Vancha, who were both engaged in conversation with Evanna, "You know Mr. Crepsley and Vancha?"

Ava nodded slowly, "I know Larten from my time in Vampire Mountain."

"And Vancha?"

She could feel his eyes on her, feel them burning through her skin. She felt her breathing coming out in puffs and she slowed them down a little to stop hyperventilation from starting. She shoved her hands in her pockets and forced what could be passed as a smile.

"I do."

"And this, I expect, is the boy Prince?"

Ava and Darren turned and, at that moment, Ava unwillingly got a full blast of her old master.

As Evanna spoke with Darren and the little person—Harkat Mulds—Ava felt her heart stop. He had not changed much since her departure, but he had still morphed into a whole new Vancha. She could see, from the evidence on his skin, that his battle with the Sun had not ended, and his hair was still dyed green and his purple animal hides and shurikens remained. He was still burly, muscular with the scent of the woods about him. Ava always felt attracted to the wolfish smell, though it seemed to draw most women away. From what she could tell he was still his grimy, dirty, loud, annoying and obnoxious self…but there was something in his big eyes and the way he tightened his small mouth that told her that she had destroyed something that could only be fixed if she went back in time and replayed that whole scene with him. Remember that time she wanted to melt into a puddle and wash away into the river? Now would have been an excellent time for that to happen.

She felt herself shaking as she took a small step back and held her breath as she said slowly, in a voice she didn't recognize as hers, "Hello, sire."

The silence between them was as sharp as glass. The voices around them from Evanna being ticked off from being called a 'witch' were mute in her ears. All she heard was her heart beating, her breathing and Vancha's breathing. It was slow, ominous and steady. It was as though he would strike her at any moment. She couldn't place his emotions worth a damn, and she didn't think she wanted to. She was afraid that if she did, she was going to run up to her room, shut the door and cry her eyes out. Not that that would help any because, according to her mother, she would have to spend Gods know how long with them and their little excursion for the Lord of the Vampaneze...and possibly save the world and their kind from total annihilation. She didn't know what circle of hell she had just entered, but she was not liking it one bit. Not even when he crossed his arms over his chest and his lips formed the first words from him she had heard since twenty years:

"Hello, Ava."

The glass shattered.


	4. Chapter 3

**~Disclaimer statement: In this chapter and the previous one (and the next ones) there were lines taken from the book and added to my chapter. Know that those lines and any characters besides the ones I made up and anything else taken from the book are all the sole property of Darren Shan and his awesome series!~****  
Chapter Three**

"...Larten got tipsy on wine and tried to kiss me." Evanna chuckle, shooting the embarrassed Larten Crepsley a playful look, "I gave him a little scratch to teach him some manners."

Harkat, Darren and Vancha—who had not made eye contact with Ava the entire time—burst out laughing. Even Ava, given her circumstances, managed a small smile which soon turned into a light little laugh. Larten looked like he would have rather swallowed a bucket full of his precious spiders.

"You are cruel, Evanna."

"Larten!" Vancha was laughing pretty hard, and Ava felt almost relieved because that meant that for at least a moment he had forgotten she was even there, "Wait till I tell the others! I always wondered why you were so coy about that scar! Normally vampires boast about their wounds, but you—"

"Shut up!"

Ava decided to jump in, just to east Larten's pain, "Well, at least we're the only ones that know that, right? And, unless Evanna here is willing to spill it to the crowd, I think that scar is very becoming…as long as no one knows where it came from."

Larten managed a sly grin, "Well thank you, Ava, and let us hope your mother is not as cruel as I am now beginning to realize she is."

Ava regretted saying something, because Vancha had stopped laughing and was now looking directly at her. She rubbed her hands against her jeans to wipe off the sweat that was now budding on the palms of her hands.

_I know what you're thinking, Vancha_. She thought sadly, _you hate me. But it's ok. I understand. I still love you. And I think I always will. Even when the world crumbles, you fail your mission or you lose yourself I will always love you. I don't know why I refused you. Someday, maybe one day the Gods that look down upon us will give me a change to explain myself to you. Maybe the Gods might allow me to be with you…for the rest of our years._

"…it wouldn't have been half as noticeable as it is." Evanna was saying, "But he took off like a kicked dog and didn't return for thirty years."

Ava didn't know what it was but the moment Evanna said that, she winced and her body tensed up. She didn't like hearing any reference to her own blunder and maybe her mother didn't mean for it to be like that but…it was taken like that.

And Vancha saw it too because he looked dead at her and he said with clear distinction, "Go figure."

Ava had had enough.

"Excuse me." She jumped to her feet and brushed off her jeans, "I need some fresh air, mother. I won't be long."

She didn't wait for Evanna to give her an answer. She was already walking away from the gathered group, her hands balled up into fists. She knew where she was going, but the walls passed in a blur, as though the world around her was warping through her senses, unable to allow her to distinctly pinpoint one thing from another. Her breathing was shallow and her heart shattered because she was doing it again. She saw him, she heard him and she was running. Did her mother know she was going to do that? Was she purposefully provoking her? Why? Evanna didn't say those words out of a whim. The woman hardly did anything off of a whim. She did everything for a reason; for those damn futures she saw that she wouldn't speak of to anyone else. But provoking them? She would make that her own hobby, for sure. Verily, she would do it until the end of her days. Ava knew her mother had said that for a reason. What was that reason? Only Evanna knew. Ava was sure even the Gods didn't know what the woman meant to do. Her and her damn father had their own agenda…but it was liable to drive Ava insane…if it had not already.

She finally made it outside, and she took a deep breath. It was as if she had held her breath since that moment at the door, when she had swore she would scream or cry if she tried to breathe. The moment she hit the cold outside hair and felt the wind blow her hair back, all those pains and internal conflicts locked away deep inside of her was slowly starting to spill out in amounts that she didn't know how to control.

She took long strides as far into the forest as she could go, but not so far that she was far away from the cave. She knew where it was, even if her mother felt the need to make an illusion out of it. Before she knew it, she had collapsed on the ground next to a huge sycamore. Her hands were shaking and her breathing was so uneven, she felt she was choking to death. Sobs racked through her body and, before she could pep talk herself into stopping it, she was crying her eyes out, the tears flowing like a never ending river…the only immortal flow of her life. They came, fell to the mossy forest ground, and then fell some more. She cried for herself. She cried for Vancha. She cried for the fate of her people. She cried for the fate of their enemies. She cried for Gavner, Arra and the traitorous Kurda Smahlt. She cried for all those who passed onto Paradise over a bloodshed fight with their brothers…

She just cried.

"Why do you hate me?" She asked the skies above her as storm clouds started ominously coating the blue ceiling with grey, almost black in the night, "What did I do to make you hate me so much?"

Her entire body was sore by the time the rain started to fall. She felt the first drop and didn't move. The second and third and fourth ones came in frenzy, as well as the others that followed. Soon, not a minute after the first couple drops it started pouring buckets on her. Still she didn't move. She just kept crying and crying, just asking the Vampire Gods why they hated her. These were questions she knew they couldn't answer, but she still asked them anyways. What else did she have to say? Should she as why they made her so weak? But she wasn't weak! She had endured trials those her age and size would have died under. Vancha March was a harsh master, and nearly killed her himself when he punished her. Gods, she was _strong_! She wasn't weak. She couldn't be.

Thirty minutes after dealing with the rain, she stood. The rain had slowed down significantly, to the point where the only damage came from the drops dripping from the tips of leaves. Her entire body was jelly but she held onto her balance by holding onto the trees. How could she go back in now? How could she—

"Ava!"

Screaming, she whirled around and drew the dagger she kept strapped to her waist, holding it up to the throat of the man who stood right behind her in the work of a second.

It was Larten.

"Oh, Gods, Larten, I'm sorry!" Ava stuttered, pulling her dagger back and putting it back where it was prior, "I didn't know it was you."

"Clearly." He grunted, "What do you have in your mind, might I ask? To drench in rain water to test your limits?"

"Vampires are always testing their limits." Ava replies stiffly, running a hand through her wet hair and crossing her arms over her chest, "Why can't I with the rain?"

"You of all your sisters would be the one to do that, yes." Larten sighed, "Why did you storm out, Ava? Vancha meant no harm."

"Why are you assuming I needed fresh air because of what that oaf said?" Ava snapped, her guard going up, "Maybe I wanted some alone time!"

"Instead of catching up with old allies." Larten said. It wasn't a question.

She shrugged, "We are all people, Larten. We all have our own needs, whatever they may be and however obscure they might look in others eyes."

"Ah." He nodded, "That is understandable."

"Good." Then she frowned, "What are you doing out here in the rain? Fulfilling your obscure needs as well?"

"In a sense." Larten sniffed, "I will have you know that I needed a moment to consult my thoughts of…what happened."

"To Arra?"

He nodded, his eyes suddenly turning distant and sad, "Yes."

"Larten." Ava placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry about Arra. I loved her like a sister and I wept for her as well. You're not alone in your grief."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Thank you, Ava."

"And same for Gavner, I know the two of you were as close as brothers. I grieved for him as well."

"I thank you."

"Larten…" Ava sighed and bowed her head, regretting asking the question she wanted to ask, "When you and Vancha met again…and trekked over here…did he…?"

"Say anything about you?"

She held her breath and nodded slowly.

"To be frank, Ava, dear, yes, he did."

She closed her eyes shut in the hopes of stopping the tears. Thank the Gods it was the drizzling aftermaths of the rain right now because her tears looked like mere raindrops on her face.

But Larten saw right through it, "He and I are close as brothers. We have known each other for many years now. There is nothing he can keep from me that I will not find out later on. I do not think you a coward for what you did, Ava. Fear is only natural. Was it wrong to run? Yes, it was. Vampires never run from their problems and you, of all people, would not be my first choice to do that. You had a moment of weakness, a moment which lacked judgment. Is that wrong? No. Is it not the best thing? Yes."

"What did he say?" She choked out, "Whatever it is, I can handle it. I just want to know."

"He said he doesn't know what to think." Larten answered immediately, "He implied that he could read you like a book most every occasion but then, he couldn't. It was as if he didn't know who you were anymore. He didn't know what was going through your mind and it was killing him. That was all he told me before he dismissed the conversation and proceeded to change the subject."

She didn't say anything.

"Ava, do you love him?"

She didn't respond.

"Do you?"

She shook her head.

"So you do then."

She cursed Larten for knowing these things. She wanted to smack him across the face but, instead, he pulled her into a tight hug, patting her on the back and holding her close. Instinctively, she hugged him back, not as a lover but as a friend, as someone who she knew would always be there for her when her days were dark. Larten was a grumpy old bugger, but he knew how to comfort. In his own way, even when he tried to deny it, he was like a father figure to the younger ones in Vampire Mountain. Darren seemed to think of him as so and Avery, Aria and Ava knew this was so. He fathered them as much as he would father his own blood child. Anna didn't know this, obviously, since the youngest sister had not met him before. It comforted Ava, though, to know that Larten Crepsley would be there to help Anna as much as he had Avery, Aria and Ava. Even to those who thought mess of him for not being a General, he was respected. So much so, even the Princes turned to him for advice and even took his lead on many matters. Ava felt warmth in his embrace…and it felt good after all that crying she had done.

But no one but them needed to know about that.

"Ahem."

Both of them broke apart, jumping out of each other's arms as they both whirled around to see who had made his or her entrance. Ava felt her breath catch in her throat upon seeing the person standing right there not five feet from her and Larten. It was the last person she wanted to see. Lord only knew what he would think after seeing her and Larten embrace like that. She wanted to puke, just throw all her guts up and fall dead right in front of Larten Crepsley…

And Vancha fucking March.

"Hate to break up this heartfelt moment." He said his voice thick with emotion and distain, "But Evanna is calling for the two of you to return inside before you catch a cold. She is demanding we get rest."

Ava gulped a pretty audible one, and didn't think she had the stomach to say anything. Larten took it in his stride, held his head up high and nodded without a word, walking off into the cave after squeezing Ava's shoulder. She knew he meant to help her, but all it did was add to her anxiety because now, she was officially alone with her old master. Alone. Cold. In the rain while he stood there and thought she and Larten had had a "moment" when, if fact, they were just comforting each other. Larten had no such feelings for her and she had none for him but she knew that saying that would only give Vancha more incentive to think so. He was mad; furious even. He looked like he wanted to take her neck between his big hands and wring it so hard; she would have a heart attack and die. He was pissed. She didn't blame him. he had no way of knowing that she never meant to reject him but now he had every right to think that she rejected him…for _Larten Crepsley_!

"And again you have nothing to say."

His voice cracked like a whip, and Ava winced at the sound of it. She caught herself just before she jumped in shock and attempted to calm herself down and steady her beating heart.

"Is that how it's going to be, Ava?" He asked, uncrossing his arms, his hands balling into huge fists at his sides, "I give my life to you. I gave you years of my life and trained you from the beginning to now. I taught you everything I know and I took care of you, knowing that you chose me as your master. I am more deserving of your affections then he."

"Y-y-yes." She stuttered without meaning to.

"But you reject me." He grinned maliciously and shook his head, "and not only that. Oh no! You run off like a whipped dog, never to be seen for another twenty years. You shut off your life from everyone you are kin to except your sisters. You were all but dead. I had no way of knowing. You never let me in, Ava. You never cared."

"I did." She whispered, "Vancha…sire…please…"

"Please what?" He shouted, making her cry out loud and wince as he appeared right in front of her with the stealth and quickness of the Vampires, "Please. What, Ava. What could you possibly want from me? I gave you everything. You took from me and didn't think to give."

"That's not true!" She protested, pleading, "No, I would have never done that to smite you—."

"Liar." He growled, "You are nothing but a malicious little liar, Ava. A conniving snake that bites and sucks the life out of the man who could have given you the world."

He was so close, his wolfish smell infiltrated her nostrils, causing tears to foam her eyes yet again. Vancha March wasn't a handsome man, but he was still very seductive in his own way. He was no woman's desire but, rather, the opposite. He was everything a woman didn't want but yet…yet…she was intoxicated by him.

"Vancha…"

"Tell me you love me." He growled, his face dangerously close to her now, "Tell me that now. Tell me that and mean every word of it."

"Sire…"

"Say it!"

"I love you!" She cried, cringing away from him and waiting for his response. She hated the silence that followed. She would have rathered he hit her and knocked the life out of her.

But, he pulled away from her and whispered, "Prove it." Then he turned and walked away, his huge body disappearing into the cave in a matter of seconds.

Ava covered her mouth with her hand, her entire body about to crumble into a million pieces. _Prove_ it? How? How could she? What did he expect her to do? Were words not enough? Wait…Gods, was this her chance to make things right? Did she finally have an opportunity, an opening into finally making things go the way they were supposed to before her fears caught up to her? Was this her destiny calling to her? Was proving to Vancha March that she loved him the Gods way of telling her that she was finally able to set it all straight and move on? And what better opportunity then now! She was trekking with them, right? She was going to endure what they did. She had all the time to show her love towards him in a way that was not pushy but still obvious.

Sighing, still shaking from her encounter with her old master, she looked up to the sky and whispered, "Thank you." Before heading back inside as well, her entire body soaking wet from the rain.

Another day, another trial. This was all part of a bigger picture, and she knew it. The Vampaneze Lord had to be defeated and if she succeed in aiding them in doing that not only would she prove to her master that she was still reliable and she loved him but she would save her race from the ashes of extinction.

And she would rather die then give up such an opportunity to kick some serious vampaneze ass!


	5. Chapter 4

**~Disclaimer statement: Know that any characters and anything else taken from the book are all the sole property of Darren Shan and his awesome series! I own nothing.~****  
Chapter Four**

The next day, it was time to leave. Evanna had expressed that she would join them, but not without her solemn tidings:

"One more thing," She started to leave through the door, Vancha, Larten, Darren, Harkat and Ava right behind her, ready to get out and into the outside world where the enemies of the night waited for their arrival, but paused, "Desmond should have told you this, Larten, Darren and Harkat, but he obviously chose not to—playing mind games, no doubt. Vancha, you should have been informed as well, as one of the three hunters."

"What is it Lady?" Vancha pressed after seeing her pause again. Ava held her breath, knowing something was going wonky. Evanna never shared information unless there was a good amount of 'wonk' in the mix.

"It concerns the hunt for the Vampaneze Lord. I don't know whether you'll succeed or fail, but I have seen into the future of each possible outcome and gleaned some facts of what lies in store."

Ava bit her lip and bowed her head. She knew what her mother was going to say next. Her mother had merely glazed over it with her, but she knew in her gut what was going to be said. Vancha turned and looked at her, and she knew and he knew what she was thinking. He could always read her better then she would have hoped. She hated it when people were able to read her like that.

"I will not speak of the future where you are to succeed," Evanna continued, "it is not for me to comment on that…but if you fail…" Again, she stalled. Reaching out, she took both Vancha's hands in her left and Larten's in her right. She locked eyes with Ava for a split second before looking at Darren and said, "I tell you this because I think you should know. I don't say it to frighten you, but to prepare you, should matters come to the worst.

"Four times your paths are fated to cross with that of the Vampaneze Lord. If they do cross, on each occasion, you will have it within your powers to make an end of him. If you fail, the vampaneze are destined to win the War of Scars. This you already know. But, what Desmond didn't tell you is—by the end of the hunt, if you have faced the Vampaneze Lord four times and failed to kill him, only one of you will be alive to witness the fall of the vampire clan." Lowering her faze and, removing her hands from Larten's and Vancha's, she spoke in such a low voice it couldn't even pass as a whisper, "The other two will be _dead_."

Ava bowed her head when she said this. She shut her eyes tightly and bit her lip; knowing Vancha's eyes were right on her. She had known. Whether in passing or in hints her mother had told her things that she shouldn't have. Even if her mother did not tell her…she had known.

And the scary part? She didn't even know how she knew it.

XXXX

It was later that night, when resting in the forest, that Vancha confronted her for the second time. Not an hour prior, he had cheered up the squad of rather odd creatures and stated the optimistic side of things. Ava walked next to Darren the whole time, the two of them talking it up, getting to know each other. He told her about his life as a human and how he became Larten's assistant.

"You saved your best friend's life by becoming a vampire." Ava had said after he told the story, "That's very noble. I wish I had friends like you, Darren. You're a noble, reliable young man. I can already see incredible greatness in your future."

He had blushed when she told him this and mumbled, "I'm not that great…"

"All great vampires have said the same thing."

But, that night, they had camped. They had just finished the fresh dinner cooked especially by Evanna with her amazing, foldable pots that she loved so much to invent and she, Larten, Darren and Harkat were knocked out cold, as though they had suffered many nights of sleep deprivation. Ava was walking towards the camp with a roll of firewood in her arms, assuming that everyone was asleep, including Vancha.

But, of course, that was not the case.

Before she knew what was happening the fire wood was out of her arms and scattered all over the forest floor. Her body was harshly pushed against an opposing tree to her left, the impact of the trunk on her back knocking the wind out of her. She gasped out loud and, by instinct, swung her hand back and socked her assailant right in the gut, causing him to stumble back. She tried to get herself away from the tree, but he recovered fast, and slammed her against it again, more gently this time but with the same force that knocked the wind out of her yet again. She tried to fight back but he pinned her legs with his body and held her hands down to her sides. He was too strong for her and the only way to get out of it would have been to bang her head against his…only that he was taller than her. What was she to do? She was trapped! She was probably about to get killed and it pained her to think that goodbye she shared with her sister, Anna, would be the last one.

"Stop fighting me, Ava." A very familiar voice growled, "Enough of this!"

She gasped and paused in mid struggle, her eyes flaring with shock and something that could have passed off and confusion, "Vancha? What the hell are you doing? Let me go!"

"You knew." He snapped, his hands tightening around her wrists to the point where she knew he was going to leave marks, "You knew everything your mother said, didn't you? Every word."

"I—"

"Don't you dare fucking lie to me!" He growled, his own big eyes burning like lit torches, "I saw the look on your face. The rest of us were wrought with distress and shock but you? You didn't look the least bit surprised."

"I swear on the Gods I knew nothing." She said, her voice snapping like a whip, "And if I did, it was unwilling. She told you the same thing she refused to tell me until you got there."

"Then explain why you didn't look shocked."

"I can hide myself." She replied simply, "You taught me to hide my emotions so the adversary wouldn't see just how weak I was. You taught me well, master, because I made sure you of all people didn't read my shock."

Those weren't the right words to say, and she knew it. But it allowed for him to let her go and take a step back. She stumbled forward, rubbing her wrists, both of which were now turning a nasty shade of purple after cycling through the red phase.

Vancha sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I wish I had something else to say to you, Ava. But I don't. The events of that day…" He shook his head, "No, we won't speak of it. Whatever I felt for you that day, whether it remains or not is uncertain."

"You are still a Prince and I still respect you." She said, as though that would solve everything.

"Not enough to be my mate." He shrugged, "But that is fine. Mika himself faced rejection from Arra and now he has had a mate for over a century. Maybe that same luck will happen for me."

That hurt more than anything, "Vancha…I—"

"Goodnight, Ava." He turned and walked away towards the camp, not even bothering to render a glance in her direction. Watching him walk away was hard…but she had to remember that if she had not been a coward, she would not have had to watch him walk away like that.

She still had a chance to prove her love for him. How, she didn't know, but she knew she would prove it one way or the other. She had to. It wasn't a matter of the universe, rather than her own pride telling her to do it.

Damn her pride.

XXXX

"…Mr. Tiny said to follow our hearts." Larten said for the second time in a row. They had been arguing about what course to take for the past two hours, and Ava was surely getting a headache from listening to them argue back and forth. She was liable to scream 'just pick something already!' rather than listen to them argue and argue for two more hours.

Vancha, who had been the common adversary in the argument, threw his hands into the air in frustration, "Ok! We'll do it your way. But you two," He pointed to Larten and Darren, "will have to pick the course. As many women have attested, I am a boundless cad that doesn't have a heart."

_Amen to that! _Ava stifled a laugh.

"I'd like to see how Evra's doing." Darren threw in. Ava frowned at him. Evra? Who in the name of the Gods was that?

Larten seemed to know, for he nodded his head approvingly, "Good. Just last night I was wondering what my old friend Hibernius Tall was up to."

Ava knew who _that_ was! That was her uncle, Mr. Tall, "Oh yes, I would like to see Mr. Tall again." She said when Larten gestured for her agreement, "It's been too long."

"Harkat?"

The little person nodded, "Sounds good to me."

"So be it." Larten turned to Vancha and in a rather odd commanding tone that seemed to render finality to the whole argument, "Sire, we are heading for the Cirque du Freak."

Oh, Ava knew what that was too! The Cirque du Freak! Of course, how could she forget? She had visited it a long time ago when she was young. Evanna took her there and she developed a slight romantic deal with Cormac Limbs after seeing him chop off his finger, sign it, and give it to her and made it grow back again. It was only slight, filled with laughs over a fire and one, little kiss, but that was all. They were still close friends, she was sure. She would like to see him again, after so long. Surely he would remember her, as well as Truska, who Ava also had developed a friendship with.

Ah, the sweet taste of compromises!

XXXX

It took them about three weeks of rushed walking and short, sleepless nights to finally catch up to the circus. One afternoon, not long before they made it there, Ava was woken by moans of pain and shouts of fear. She opened one eye and slowly raised her head from where it was resting on her hand to see where the noise was coming from. She looked over at Larten and Vancha to see if it was one of them but saw that they were both fast asleep, covered with the cloaks to block out the sun. She wondered why Vancha was not battling the sun today but dismissed it as him being tired. Even the most hard-assed vampires needed their sleep.

She looked over to where Darren and Harkat should have been sleeping, but saw Darren crouching over Harkat's body, which was tossing and turning from the nightmare he seemed to be having. When Ava saw her mother sitting on a low branch, observing and talking to Darren, Ava lowered her head again but opened her ears, closing both eyes and listening to every word spoken.

"…noble but foolish." Her mother mused gently, her eyes ever leaving the little person's writhing form.

"If you told him who he was, would that ease his nightmares?" Darren asked, his voice wrought with concern. With all the moaning and cries of pain and fear, Ava herself was beginning to feel her own sense of concern for the little person.

"No," her mother replied simply, "he must learn the truth himself. I'd make things worse if I meddled. But there is a way to temporarily ease his pain."

"How?"

"One who speaks the language of the dragons could help."

Ava held her breath. She had heard her mother say the same thing a very long time ago. To who, Ava didn't know for certain, but it was a vampaneze. A young one as well, who was suffering nightmares of his own and begged her for the mercy of healing. She told him those same words and Ava never heard from him again. Maybe that's why she was having such a hard time remembering him.

"…in this time and place they are." Evanna was saying now, "but there are other times and places, and bonds can be formed unknown."

_You're telling me_, Ava thought cynically. To her left, Vancha's snoring near drowned out the whole conversation while to her right, Larten slept peacefully. When living with rambunctious vampires like Vancha, you got used to certain things. Ava could sleep through his symphony, but right now, when she was trying to listen to a conversation, she wanted nothing more than to smother him with feathers to shut him up.

"…how about the Stone on Blood? Can you picture it, red and throbbing, the blood of the vampires flowing through its mysterious veins?"

Ava frowned, wondering what they were talking about now. What did the Stone of Blood have anything to do with Harkat's nightmares? Was she trying to…oh Gods, was she trying to help Darren to bonding with a dragon? Now of all times?

"Yes." Was all she heard Darren say.

"Keep thinking of it. In a few minutes you'll experience unpleasant sensations, and maybe catch glimpses of Harkat's nightmares. Ignore them and stay focused on the Stone. I will do the rest."

Ava shut both her eyes, not wanting to listen anymore. Just like the bit with the Lord of the Vampaneze, she knew what was coming next. Darren would see something that could change the course of what was to come. He would see into his own dark future, and that was a future Ava knew too well. How, she didn't know. Her mother always told her she had a gift of intuition. She knew what was to come without anyone having to tell her. Up until now she had suppressed that gift and relied on the forces around her to dictate her destiny, like all other creatures of the night. But now, in the face of such peril, she was letting it flow out of her, and that was why she knew what Darren was going to see. Her own visions weren't as clear or as close to distinct as her mothers. They were little glimpses here and there of things to come, rather than detailed descriptions. Mostly she had to rely on her imagination to tell her what was coming next. Sometimes she was right, sometimes she was wrong but close enough to right. Either way, with her gift, there was no telling. And that was what scared her.

The minutes passed and, no matter how hard Ava tried, she couldn't drown out Darren's grunts of discomfort. Never having experienced this herself, Ava couldn't attest to his pain. But, she knew exactly what her mother was doing. In Darren's fragile state, Ava wasn't sure he could handle the pressure of what he was going to see if he continued. Ava covered her ears, not wanting to hear what came next. She managed to go back to sleep for another ten or so minutes until Evanna's voice woke her up again and she cursed the Gods for doing this to her.

_Gods, she's telling him!_

"The Lord of Destruction." She was saying now, "The Master of Shadows. The would-be ruler of the eternal night."

_The Lord of the Shadows…_Ava knew exactly what her mother was talking about.

"He was so powerful…" Darren whispered, "So evil."

"He will be."

"_Will be?"_

"What you saw was a shade of the future. The Lord of the Shadows has not yet come into his own, but he will, eventually. This cannot be avoided, and you should not worry about it. All that matters for the time being is that your friend will sleep untroubled now."

Ava sighed, shifting her position a little to where her hip bone didn't hit the ground at such an awkward angle. Their discussion went on, but her own fears were clouding her judgment. She didn't know the Lord of the Shadow's coming was unavoidable. She only knew he would come. All this time she had thought there was a way to thwart it. And maybe there was. But, in a way, Ava was happy she didn't know all that. If she had, she would have gone mad with her own foreshadowing.

"Evanna." Ava heard Darren saying, his voice strained, "This Lord of the Shadows…there was something familiar about him. I couldn't make out his face, but I felt I knew him."

"So you should." The witch replied. Then she hesitated for a beat before saying, "What I tell you now is between you and me. It must go no further. You can tell no one, not even Larten or Vancha."

Ava sucked in some air, knowing she was not supposed to be listening to this. But her own curiosity got the best of her and she listened.

"I won't." Darren promised.

"The future is dark, Darren. There are two paths, and both are winding and troubles, paved with souls of the dead. In one of the possible futures, the Vampaneze Lord has become the Master of Shadows and ruler of the dark. In the other…"

_It is you, Darren_. Ava thought before she realized she was thinking it. She stifled her gasp and tucked her head in deeper.

"In the other, Darren," Evanna sighed before echoing the words that had just flitted through Ava's mind, "The Lord of the Shadows is _you._"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Six**

The day at the Cirque Du Freak was a happy one, full of spirit and kindness. Ava almost forgot her personal problems when she was there, despite the fact that Vancha was there also. But, much to Ava's unwilling dismay, his attentions were diverted by Truska, the bearded lady, who took it upon herself to woo the green haired Prince into her embrace. Ava seethed a little as they kissed, and she turned away so she didn't have to watch. When they started talking in that foolish Shelk language, she found herself walking away, knowing he was doing that to purposefully smite her… well, if he was, it worked. If it was up to Ava, she would have whacked him across the face and started a scene, but it was not up to her. She was just going to have to turn the other cheek and walk away for now...so she did.

As she was walking, she couldn't help but smile about how nice it was to be back. The performers were all cordial and so happy to see her, though most of the ones she had known last time she had been here were no longer here, there were those that remembered her.

"Well, well, well. Isn't that a beauty?"

Ava knew that line. She knew it well. Smiling, she turned around to see Cormac Limbs leaning on a tree, chewing on some gum only to spit it out when Ava approached to give him a hug, slightly relieved that she had found him. She wasn't going to do what Vancha was doing and try to make him jealous, all she wanted was to spend time with someone who was a close and very dear friend to her. She was going to need it for the journey ahead, and a little refreshment never hurt…

"Cormac!" Ava threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, her heart elating with happiness upon seeing her friend, "It's been forever, hasn't it? How are things?"

He shrugged, leaning back against the tree, "Only a few shows here and there. Other than that, I play a few pranks on the Little People and wreck havoc with the Wolf Man. To be honest, none of those really stunning female helpers take me for a suitable date, so I get by."

"They're missing out." Ava winked, "I had a rather nice little date with you back in the day. What was that? Twenty or thirty years ago?"

"Funny how it is with Vampires." Cormac shook his head, "Years just pass on by. Normal ones like us get old but you guys? Ha! You look like you haven't aged a day, still as beautiful as the night I first saw you. A little cut up and scarred here and there but I am assuming that is from the grueling world of the Vampires." He said those last words in the most dramatic voice he could conjure up.

"I didn't spend all my years with the Vampires." Ava sighed, looking down at her feet and shaking her head, "Spent some time with my mother after some…problems."

"Care to share and tell?"

Ava wondered if that was a good idea. Cormac was her friend, but she was not proud of what she had done and wasn't sure if she was ready to tell it to anyone who asked. Most Vampires weren't so shy about their problems, for in a clan there was nothing to hide, even cowardice. Though what she had done was not considered cowardly by her kin merely because she had gone to Evanna and had everyone assuming she had chosen to do so well before hand, she hated that she had done it. The falling out of it was already hard to deal with…

But, she knew what would happen if she kept quiet. It would build up inside of her and she would eventually lose her cool and go mad. That was not what she had in mind for her future, so she decided it would be safe enough to tell.

"You know that other Vampire we came with?"

Cormac nodded, "The odd looking one with Truska?"

Ava nodded, "That is Vancha March, one of our Princes. He is the one who trained me when I was first getting into the swing of being a Vampire."

"I always heard Larten say that he was a mediocre master…"

"He was in a way, but he seemed to kick into overdrive after I had pestered him enough." Rose shrugged, "But he trained me for years and years and allowed me to do my Trials over and over again until I had maxed myself out." She forced a laugh, "I was in training to be a General when he asked me…" She bit her lip and looked around them to make sure he was no where around and, after concluding that he was probably still locking lips with the Bearded Lady, she cleared her throat and whispered, "…he asked me to be his mate."

Cormac's jaw dropped, "No way…"

"Way."

He shook his head, "That's a scandal if I ever heard one. Why isn't he with you then?"

She figured Cormac assumed that she had accepted, and that was where she had to draw the line, "Actually, I refused him."

"What? Are you insane or are you just stupid?"

"My mama always told me that stupid is as stupid does." Ava quoted, just for the heck of it. When in doubt, channel Forrest Gump!

Cormac barked a laugh, "Right...because your mother is one to say that. She'd rather just gut you and be done with it."

"That's not a very nice thing to say." Ava scowled, "And, to answer your previous inquiry, I don't know why I refused him, Cormac. It was the spur of the moment thing. I ran after that and the first time I saw him after twenty years was three weeks ago."

Cormac frowned, his brightness dimming only slightly as his face contorted into something that might've been passible for concern, "That isn't like you, Ava. You're not one to run."

"Cormac, I had no choice." She was pleading for reasons unknown, "I was scared and it wasn't something I could take back. I mean, I could've said that I meant yes or something but I was so scared…I don't know. I know it's not like me to do something like that, but I felt at the time that I was being put under so much pressure in so little time…"

"All the man was doing was proposing to you." Cormac pointed out, "Now, I'm not much of an expert on Vampires or nothing, but I do know that there are worse things you have gone through. He proposing to you shouldn't have been that bad."

"Well, I guess I'll always be known for my biggest failure then." Ava turned to walk away, "It was a mistake telling you that Cormac, please don't tell anyone else."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Cormac grabbed her arm and pulled her back, "Look, Ava, I understand what you went through. I'm glad that you chose me to confide to…in a way. I want you to know that I don't judge you."

"Cormac, stuff it." Ava grinned, "How bout we just don't talk about this? I'd rather embrace my friends and be happy for the rest of these days until we have to dive into the belly of the beast…literally!"

XXXX

It was later the next day that Mr. Tall made the proposal to Darren and Larten to come back on the show for the night. He asked Ava if she would be ok as one of the assistants, but she kindly refused, stating that she wanted to just relax before they had to take off again. Though she even didn't know where they were going to go, she still knew it was going to be a little gruesome, a little nerve wracking. She wanted to spend as much time walking around and feeling the fresh air before every single moment of her doing so would be threatened.

As she was walking back to her tent, Ava felt someone place a hand on her shoulder, and she whirled around quickly, drawing her knife and holding it up between the eyes of Truska, who looked at Ava like she was insane.

"Truska." Ava lowered her knife but didn't put it away, her eyes wary as she took in the sight of the beautiful Shelk, "What do you need?"

The bearded lady back away a little before saying something in extremely broken English, "Your knife…can you it put away?"

Ava looked down at the knife, back up at Truska and then chuckled and slid it back in her belt, "Sorry. When you do what I do, everyone is an enemy." Why was she being a bitch to Truska? They were supposed to be friends. She couldn't jeopardize their friendship with her stupid jealousy.

"I not an enemy, Ava." Truska pointed out, "I your friend. You I have been friends' long time."

Ava nodded, "I know that."

"Then why you not talk to me?"

"Beg pardon?"

"You come here with Larten, Vancha, Darren and little person, yes?"

Ava nodded, "I did. My mother told me that they needed my help, so I came."

"An entire day you not speak to me."

Ava gulped, "Oh, sorry. I meant to talk to Cormac and then go to sleep. I didn't mean for you to feel left out. Besides, you seemed to be….busy."

Truska grinned slyly, "You see me and Vancha?"

Ava frowned at the woman's audacity and opened her mouth to give her a good telling off…until she decided that exposing her dark secret to everyone would not be the best idea and she closed it, her eyes glaring at her friend nonetheless.

"I think everyone saw you two." Was all she said.

Truska didn't catch the pertness in Ava's words and just smiled, "He is good friend. Nothing more."

Ava chuckled, "Thank you for trying to reassure me, Truska, but I don't have any feelings for him. You're words are only slightly wasted. Granted when I was at Vampire Mountain I fancied him…but he's not my type. I prefer men like…" She thought about it for a while, "Cormac maybe? Even though he's just a friend…if I found a Vampire like him, I would not complain."

Truska grimaced a little, her eyes flashing, "Ava, that not nice. Vancha me told that you he loved. That reason why he and I stopped kissing."

Ava's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. She felt her hand shaking a little, and closed her mouth, gulped and felt her breath coming out in small bursts. She didn't want to hear what she just heard, and there really wasn't a reason why she didn't want to hear it. It was just like that time again. Ava had remembered every feeling from that day for twenty years….who would've thought that would have come back again when she had tried so hard to suppress it for all these years?

"I not was supposed to tell that you." Truska said, suddenly shocked at herself, "Sorry."

Ava nodded her throat slightly dry but she still managed an answer, "That is…interesting. Very, rather. Umm…" She suddenly felt awkward, "Wonderful weather we're having, no?"

"Ava, what with happened to you? You changed." Truska shook her head, "You not acting yourself like."

"Yes I am!" Ava winced, "I-I mean…"

Truska stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Be there anything you need tell me?

Ava shrugged her hand off, her heart racing only slightly, "Oh, well…you know….I have to go." With that, Ava quickly turned around and ran off, leaving Truska there frowning. She ran and ran and ran until she collided into Darren, who was panting as though he had been running as well. Ava stumbled back a few steps until she finally managed to regain her balance and help out Darren, who looked like he had just seen a fire brigade of Vampaneze.

"Whoa there, Darren!" Ava frowned, all of her messed up feelings pushed aside from seeing the frazzled look on her friend's face, "Are you ok?"

Darren looked at her like she was crazy, "Didn't you just see that? Are you seriously telling me you didn't say that?"

Ava frowned, turning around and waving at the space behind her in gesutre, "No…I was with—"

"Evanna, Ava." Darren said, taking her shoulders and shaking her, his eyes wild, "It saw Evanna with the _Vampaneze_!"


	7. Chapter 6

**~Disclaimer statement: Know that any characters and anything else taken from the book are all the sole property of Darren Shan and his awesome series! I own nothing. ~  
-Also, I made a mistake on the title of the previous chapter. It was actually chapter 5. THIS is chapter six! My apologies and enjoy the chapter!-**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Darren ran off to go get a hand on Larten while Ava stood there, shocked. She didn't know what her mother was doing with the vampaneze but she did know that if she was with them, she had a good reason. Her mother was neutral in this war. But, attempting to convince the other four about that was liable to be trench warfare.

Quickly deciding her next plan of action, Ava turned on her heel and ran towards the tent that Darren had been sharing with Harkat. Darren and Larten were already there, and all of them were discussing the turn of events. Ava snuck in, pretending she had been there the whole time and hopefully no one had noticed her just come it.

No such hope.

Vancha eyed a little suspiciously, "And where were you?"

Ava blinked, avoiding eye contact, "Looking for all of you." She turned to Darren, "You told them, right?"

He nodded, "Now we're figuring out what to do."

Ava frowned, wondering if now was the right time to tell then that Evanna really meant no harm. It didn't take her special power for her to tell that there would be a fight. But, something about that fight would go wrong. This was the first try and then there were three more to go. Four chances. This one they would fail. But, they didn't have to. There didn't have to be fight. Maybe it was worth a try to get them to not have a fight.

Vancha was talking again, but this time he was making every effort to not have his eyes wander over to the vicinity where Ava was, "We shouldn't have trusted her; witches are treacherous by nature. She's probably selling us out to the vampaneze even as we speak."

Ava shook her head, "I know my mother, and she wouldn't do that. She probably has a reason."

Vancha opened his mouth to counter her rather valid point—as she suspected he would—but Larten jumped in with his own opinion, "I also doubt that," He said slowly and calmly, "Evanna would hardly require the aid of the vampaneze if she meant to do us harm."

"Which she doesn't." Ava threw in, still holding onto the small hope that a fight would not have to ensue.

"You think she's gone over there to discuss frogs?" Vancha barked at the both of them.

"I do not know what they are discussing, but I do not believe she is betraying us." Larten stated, stubbornly holding onto his beliefs.

"I agree." Ava said, "My mother isn't betraying us, sire. She would have at least told me if she was planning something with the vampaneze. I understand she has an iron tongue with you all but when it comes to me and my sisters, I am sure she would have given some sort of indication."

"Maybe we should ask Mr. Tall," Harkat suggested, speaking for the first time since the discussion had started, "From what Darren says, he knows what Evanna…is up to. Perhaps he would tell us."

Ava doubted that, but she held her tongue. Her protests had fallen on slightly deft years so far, so she would have to rethink her case and listen in before diving in head first with blinders on again.

Larten shook his head, "If Hibernius knew we were in danger, and was capable of warning or aiding us, he would have."

"Even so, there is nothing to warn." Ava tried again, "Look, you guys, I don't stand for my mother fraternizing with our enemies, seeing as I am her creation and I am an enemy to the vampaneze as much as she should be; but there is nothing wrong that she is doing by talking to them. How do you think the vampaneze feel of her coming here with us? Probably the same way we feel of her talking to them. We have to think logically here. Maybe her purpose isn't meant to be known by us. Maybe she is warning them of the same things she told us of before we left her home and came here."

Larten nodded quickly, "She has a point, sire. Maybe that is what she is doing."

"Either way, we cannot leave anything to chance." Darren said. He grimaced at the look Ava shot him, but didn't counter his statement. The boy was a Prince after all, and they were known to be rather hot headed.

Exhibit A: Vancha March.

"Very well." Vancha smiled grimly, "We'll have to take them on ourselves, without Hibernius helping." He stood up and started checking his shurikens.

Ava groaned and even Darren looked a little doubtful, "We're going to fight them?"

"We're hardly going to sit here and wait for them to attack!" Vancha replied, "The element of surprise is vital. While we have it, we must make use of it."

"I'm sure her intentions with the vampaneze are strictly diplomatic!" Ava stood up, her anger slowly rising, "She would have led an entire fire brigade of those misfits if they weren't. She wouldn't have wasted our time."

"So let's not give her the chance…to do that." Harkat threw in.

Ava rolled her eyes, "Has anyone considered anything I have said? I am not averse to cutting down some vampaneze; but there is no need to instigate a fight that we don't have to partake in the first place."

Larten looked like he agreed, "Perhaps she is right. Maybe they do not mean to attack. We only arrived last night. They could not have known we were coming. Their being here might not have anything to do with us."

"Thank you!" Ava sat back down, "Maybe it's just coincidence."

"Nonsense!" Vancha howled, standing firm to his beliefs, "They're here to kill, and if we don't strike first, they'll be on us before—"

"I'm not so sure," Darren suddenly muttered, as though deep in thought but speaking at the same time, "Now that I think about it, they weren't on guard or nervous, as they would have been if they were preparing for a fight."

"Because they _aren't _preparing for one." Ava grunted, sitting back and blowing some hair out of her face. Men didn't feel the need to listen to anyone. Harkat was a lucky exception but those other three really needed some sort of rude awakening. When would vampires realize that women actually had a lot to offer other than their parts and the occasional ass kicking?

Vancha cursed for what seemed like the tenth time that night and then sat down, "Ok. Let's say they aren't after us. Perhaps it's a coincidence and they don't know we're here." He leaned forward, "But they will when Evanna's finished filling them in!"

Ava shook her head, "You don't really think she's wasting her time doing that do you?"

"You think she'll tell them about us?" Darren asked.

"We'd be fools to chance it." Vancha cleared his throat, "Look, I understand what you mean, Ava, but in case you have forgotten, we're at war. I've nothing personal against our blood-cousins, but for the time being they're out enemies, and we must show them no mercy. Let's say the vampaneze and their servant have nothing to do with our being here. So what? It's our duty to engage them in battle and cut them down?"

Ava knew she still have overly conflicted feelings over Vancha and their own situation, but the whole Femme Fatale hormone in her made her say something to that, "Are you insane?! With all due respect, sire, we can't just attack them on false pretenses! That'll give them excuse to do the same to us if we are ever near them and they know but we don't!"

"And that's murder, sire…not self defense." Harkat added in softly.

"Sire, we mean no insult." Ava said, "But this isn't the right time. If this is part of the prophecy, this will be our first shot at them. I don't mean to out my own self but something is telling me we will fail if we fight."

Vancha waved them both off, "Aye, to both of you. But would you both rather we let them go on to murder some of our own? Our quest to find the Vampaneze Lord takes precedence over all else, but when the chance to cull a few stray vampaneze drops our way, we'd be fools—traitors!—not to seize it."

"We can't just look for every excuse to pick a fight with them." Ava said, desperate, "My mother—"

"May or may not be a traitor. That is no excuse not to dispatch of these vampaneze."

"And what of Evanna?" Larten asked, "What if she takes the side of the vampaneze against us?"

"She won't!" Ava snapped, "You say my mother is the enemy then my sisters and I might as well be the enemy! And two of them are mated to Princes!"

If that was the wrong thing to say, Vancha's expression told it all. She could tell he was thinking that two could have easily been three if Ava had not run. She couldn't take back what she had said and she really didn't want to. But, if she had a chance to possibly revise it but get the point straight either way, she would have.

Vancha, though, merely sniffed and shook his head, dismissing whatever it was that he was thinking, "Then we fight her too."

Ava bowed her head and shook it. There was no getting through to hard heads like Vancha. In a way, she liked to think that was why she said no to him…but she knew that wasn't the reason.

"You fancy your chances against her?" Larten smiled.

"No."

"Wise man." Ava muttered to herself, still a little flustered that they refused to listen to her.

"But I know my duty." He continued, standing again but this time, with certainty, "I'm going to kill vampaneze. If you want to come, you can. If not…" He shrugged.

Ava could honestly say that she didn't. But, in the circumstance that Larten, Darren and Harkat decided to tag along….she wouldn't really have a choice.

Larten turned to Darren, "What do you say, Darren?"

"Vancha's right."

Ava lifted her eyebrows, "Did everything I just say fall on false ears?"

"No, they didn't Ava," Darren smiled at her, "Everything you said made sense. I also don't think we should frivolously attack stray vampaneze for the heck of it…but if we let them go, and they kill vampires later, we'd be to blame. Besides, there's something we're overlooking—the Lord of the Vampaneze. It's like you said, Ava, we're destined to cross paths with him, but I think we have to chase that destiny. I know you said that you have a feeling this won't go right, but that is a chance we will have to take. Maybe these vampaneze know where he is or will be. I doubt its coincidence that we're here at the same time as them. This might be fate's way of leading us to him."

"And if we fail?"

"Then we will fail at least knowing where our next step will be."

Ava had to hand it to him; Darren knew what he was doing. There was no doubt why he was made a Prince. Brave, but not war mongering. Logical. That was the makings of a great vampire. Ava still didn't think that this was the right time to strike; that would give the vampaneze license to do the same later on…but she didn't think she had much of a choice here… not with two Princes on the same side.

"A solid argument." Vancha finally said.

"Perhaps." Larten looked unconvinced.

"Remember Mr. Tiny's words?" Darren continued, "To follow our hearts? My heart says we should face these vampaneze."

"Mine too." Harkat said after a beat.

"And mine." Vancha added in.

"I thought you had no heart." Larten muttered, causing Ava to smile a little bit despite her sudden failure at trying to sway them, "But my heart also demands confrontation, alright my head disagrees. We will go."

"Ava?" Darren turned to her, "What say you?"

She wanted to curse them all to the pits of Tartarus, but she held her tongue on that regard and shrugged, "I may not feel the same; but I know firsthand what the outcome is of refusing the wishes of one prince; so that means that I would be an idiot to refuse the wishes of two. I may not agree with this…but I will follow all of you to whatever end. I pledged myself to this team after my mother told me that I was a part of it…I have no place to argue."

"Your heart says that we should not do this." Vancha was not asking a question. Ava knew that he had no respect to all those that didn't follow their hearts and stay true to them.

"I can't willing turn against family." She said quietly, "But I will follow your wishes and do as I must."

That seemed to be enough for them; even Vancha. He tossed her a look and she couldn't help but think on the words that Truska told her. She had said that he had stopped kissing her because he had told her that he loved Ava. She didn't know what to make of that, but she knew that she still loved Vancha. She hated that he stood against her, but she still loved him.

_I wish you could understand what you're doing to me. _She thought bitterly, _Dammit Vancha, I wish I could let you read my mind. Lord knows...I wouldn't want to read yours._

"So we are all in?"

All of them nodded, Ava a little more hesitant than the rest. Vancha grinned, obviously satisfied. Ava figured he would be...but she still had the feeling that something was going to go terribly, terribly wrong. And worse...it was going to happen to him.


End file.
